Kurt Vonnegut interview (1996)

Kurt Vonnegut talks about his 1961 novel "Mother Night"-now a motion picture starring Nick Nolte and Sheryl Lee-and the writer grades his own books including "Slaughterhouse-Five," "Cat's Cradle," and "Timequake."
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Check out "Kurt Vonnegut: A Life" on Amazon: amzn.to/2Q5Y1NM Join us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ManufacturingIntellect Donate Crypto! commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/868d67d2-1628-44a8-b8dc-8f9616d62259 Share this video! Checking out the affiliate links above helps me bring even more high quality videos by earning me a small commission! And if you have any suggestions for future content, make sure to subscribe on the Patreon page. Thank you for your support!

[@disismeisdatu2857]

Mr. Vonnegut can say more in one paragraph than most writers say in a whole chapter!

[@KimInChains]

Not an american hero, a earth hero.

[@thomdrolet2624]

* an

[@Ooth9999]

You clearly haven’t read him or anything above a 6 year old level.

[@KimInChains]

@@Ooth9999 wtf are you on about?

[@Ooth9999]

@@KimInChains ….*an

[@KimInChains]

@@Ooth9999 good job, mouthbreather.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I was listening to SH5 on audiobook and scrolling through my phone. Then I realized KV deserves 100% of my attention. So I put the phone down and did NOT regret it. Genius.

[@mrdragoon3344]

Did not expect to see you here! What got you read the book?

[@Tangento]

Did you listen to the version read by Ethan Hawke, or Kurt himself? I reccommend both.

[@mr.spaceman7106]

Omg The Art of Guitar, so cool! Kurt always deserves our full attention!

[@oldjack-mi8gk]

I love Kurt. My favorite writer. He was at Dresden. Respect.

[@JSTNtheWZRD]

Slaughter house five was in dresden.

[@sydthegoat6773]

Kurt handles this needling host with absolute intelligence and good honest intention

[@detsudetsu1826]

He’s so interruptive and rude. Kurt shows a lot of class.

[@udbhavseth799]

There's something about the way he speaks, with those head tilts and the falls of his gaze and random grins, that just captivates you...

[@JSTNtheWZRD]

I think that is the mating call of the goldbreasted Vonnegut. Boooowheet.....Boooowheet.....🐥

[@OGCNNDSK]

love his humility. some may interpret self-deprecation or self-criticism as a kind of ploy for humor-laced sympathy, but hes just a great dude

[@tihsknad40]

I still think about you Kurt

[@ANobodiemyspace]

The ultimate compliment since you only really have two things to give - your thoughts and your body.

[@EMDrecs1]

I wish I could talk to him about all of his books, how amazing that would be

[@suzyweiss7813]

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt

[@Ms.gnomer]

‘Nothing I did after 55 is very good’ Galapagos and Bluebeard are in my top 5 Vonnegut books

[@lukeamerson3652]

Reading Galapagos now. Blown away

[@Ms.gnomer]

@@lukeamerson3652 I’m rereading it right now too!

[@spamsickle]

I believe he's said Galapagos was his favorite, but that may have been when he was promoting it LOL.

[@tonyturiano2872]

Timely even today, God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut

[@jafafa]

The quote of his about "we are what we pretend to be" is something I'm going to use from now on against internet trolls who claim that they aren't really the assholes they make themselves out to be.

[@jafafa]

@LiveOkie You really just typed that. A person who is an asshole online is an asshole, period. A person who is in denial of that fact is a person who lives in denial... and quite frequently a person who uses "It's not real, it's the internet" as an excuse to deny the fact that their shitty behavior online is who the really are.

[@thomdrolet2624]

@@jafafa maybe, sometimes unpopular opinions need to be voiced. Trolls/tricksters/jesters are important, just because you dislike an opinion doesn't make it wrong. Also being an asshole online is mostly harmless, you can always just ignore them, your attention and outrage is the only power they have.

[@Bix12]

I discovered Kurt when I was about 13 years old (1970) when I read "Sirens Of Titan". I was already a reader, and just making the transition from Young Adult selections to Adult. One of my older siblings shoved Sirens into my hands, saying "Read it!" So I got crackin'...and by the time (I think it took me all of 3 days to read it) I'd discovered the incredibly rich Malachi Constant, Winston Niles Rumfoord and his dog Kazak, chrono-synclastic infundibulum, the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent, Salo, the Tralfamadorian, whose penis was something like 3' in diameter and 1 inch long and the Harmoniums, I was absolutely and utterly gobsmacked! KV was a revelation to me! I read everything of his that was available at that time. I followed "Sirens...." with "Cat's Cradle", then "Slaughterhouse-Five" and so on. Within a very short time, I'd become a total V-Head. He so completely captured my mind at that impressionable young age that I'm sure he contributed significantly to the shaping of my world view. Kurt Vonnegut remains my All-Time Favorite, Most Influential Human to this day.

[@jackbeagle8458]

Kurt Vonnegut

[@fashionovawigs]

Have your read slapstick

[@Amazinglyamazing271]

I need to connect with you coz I am doing my research on kv

[@Amazinglyamazing271]

Can u plz contact me

[@adrenacrumb]

Reading 100 pages a day at 13 is pretty gay.

[@kzinful]

Listening to him here and other interviews always pains me, why you ask? Listen to the rasp emitting from his lungs, he was a heavy cigarette smoker ( as I was ) and I pass no judgment, they passed them out like candy during WWII knowing the boys needed something for the stress, and one only has to watch the old talk shows and see the tobacco sponsors. My father also fought in WWII against the Nazis and in reading Slaughter House Five it resonated a bond with me to this day. Kurt Vonnegut was a unique voice and I miss him terribly ( as my father also). I believe only America could have produced this voice ( Twain, Poe, Melville, etc) as those of other countries: Dostoevsky in Russia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Columbia, you get the picture. With Peace As the old beats would recount: Kurt was One Cool Cat, you dig?

[@MrTsetso]

The film is a masterpiece. I saw it 10 years after I read the book. This is one of Nick Nolte's best characters!

[@JohnPaul-le4pf]

Both book and film are personal favorites. Both are overlooked and underrated.

[@mck7646]

"I love you sons of bitches." Love you too Kurt. Rest well.

[@passedhighschoolphysics6010]

And so it goes.

[@blindriv3r]

just 'So it goes'.... ppl have added the 'and' since then and it has been misquoted for years

[@goodun6081]

blindriv3r there is a song, I forget who the group that sang it was, but the chorus or refrain goes :and so it goes so it goes so it goes so it goes, and where it's going, no one knows: perhaps people have that song stuck in the dark recesses of their mind when they are trying to quote Vonnegut and making a mess of it. for that matter, if I had that silly song stuck in the back of my head I think I'd have some gear teeth missing as well.... a group called Ambrosia did a group called ambrosia did a song version of a poem from one of Vonnegut s books, the part I can remember went like this, oh the Chinese dentist, and the British queen, they all fit together in the same machine , nice nice very nice, nice nice very nice, so many people in the same device....

[@andrewking9606]

It's a Nick Lowe song and it is a reference, abeit a kind of loose one

[@charlie.something]

busy busy busy

[@TxxT33]

Hahaha

[@stephenclements6158]

The movie is phenomenal, makes me want to read the book.

[@taylorgerths3696]

Billy Pilgrim came unstuck in time

[@andrewsoligo9337]

Happy 100th birthday Kurt Vonnegut!

[@grantdickey]

We miss your human form...Kurt you are alive in Nashville 2019..."So it goes"

[@3SIDEGOOF]

Grant Dickey where in nashvile ? Im here now

[@grantdickey]

@@3SIDEGOOF @BNA all day everyday!

[@3SIDEGOOF]

@@grantdickey omg lol i may be flying back home to MD from that airport this coming week !

[@pgonzo98]

a great book by my favorite author...

[@mikecarone7207]

The only summer reading list I didn't mind reading

[@waltersolomon9049]

The character Howard W. Campbell, Jr. is in both _Mother Night_ and _Slaughterhouse-Five._

[@macandrewes]

Listen. Genius. Absolute genius. Poo-tee-weet.

[@julesthomas3442]

Charlie Rose just never really takes the time to actually listen to his guests, does he? god damn

[@neogauntlet1008]

Fuck em. Jk. Maybe he reflects

[@thomdrolet2624]

He's a tool of the cathedral. It's his job to not understand.

[@lynchburgva8118]

the movie clips are so fast. I guess I blinked.

[@jeanneves177]

he remains as a legend

[@ora4428]

what a wonderful man

[@SteveSilverActor]

I've read a lot of Vonnegut's work, though not all, and I'd agree with him that his three best are Mother Night, Slaughterhouse Five, and Cat's Cradle.

[@kirbycairo]

Interestingly, Henry James wrote his three greatest novels (The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, & The Golden Bowl) in quick succession around the time he was sixty.

[@TrixieTrickx]

exactly

[@SP-mf9sh]

I think Slapstick is one of his best

[@fredericlebel6788]

Im into ir right now, and i like the beginning so much that im just starting it over and over again.

[@mavisbavis]

I love Slapstic! The prologue alone is beautiful. I read it a few years ago and still regularly crack up at the image of him hugging his son/rolling on the floor with a great dane. He's so full of fun and empathy

[@myautobiographyafanfic1413]

I adored Player Piano. I really want to know what grade Vonnegut would give it.

[@akshaysundaram1836]

My Autobiography A Fanfic He gave it a B. There’s a chart online of what he graded his books

[@peterlee4856]

The Karass always delivers just what you asked for probably not what you expected, "Hey Jerry didja bring me a movie? " "Oops gosh gee I didn't aw heck."

[@mazeckenrode]

“Charlie Rose”, PBS, 19 Nov 1996

[@fabiobonetta5454]

Legend

[@brianalquist4238]

Mother night is a fantastic book. The movie wasn't bad either

[@hammbannana1038]

This was a great film.

[@caramason56]

Awesome human 😊❤️☀️

[@meowzic]

who cares if it was a bestseller. or what sells the most.

[@Bix12]

an unemployed 47 year old writer with so many bills, a growing family, another growing family (his dead sister's), a huge mortgage, and dogs. /

[@dave199010]

Loved Cat's Cradle

[@rayminthecat]

Breakfast of champions

[@maxryder995]

I'm Drinking Freedom Fighter Beer!! Love You Kurt!

[@bsharporbflat8378]

A really bright man

[@esme8608]

love you more and more and more, and more, and more and more and more.. see you soon. all my love

[@detsudetsu1826]

The way he handles the ignorant schizophrenia question at the very start shows his class.

[@dmartin32boiler]

I really do not think Kurt believes he is getting "dumber" with age. I think the interview took a path after a confusing/foggy statement/answer and he just rolled w/ it.

[@oaxaca911]

“He had just emptied his seminal vesicles into Valencia, had contributed his share of the green beret”

[@geoffburton822]

I loved "Slapstick" !!!

[@emilram]

A+= Sirens of Titan, Breakfast of Champions and Slapstick. A= Timequake, cats cradle and slaughter house5.

[@samuelirwin4461]

Breaks my heart to hear he didn't rate slapstick higher. That book changed my life and I'll be eternally grateful

[@maxryder995]

I read Slapstick in One Day my birthday Jan 13th..2004

[@brianYYZ]

I just listened to Ethan Hunt read Slaughterhouse Five. I kept thinking of Gaza. A group of innocents paying the price for their wicked leaders. And so it goes.

[@ginfizzz2895]

Mother Night is not mysterious at all and a page turner, it plays on modern American virtues, and doesn’t waste any breath. If someone I knew would read, I would tell them to read Mother Night. I have never seen the movie, but the Howard in the book does not seem too distraught about his Nazi affiliations, but is simply over the whole business of living.

[@DENVERTZ007]

Μια σπανια συνεντευξη του συγγραφεα Κουρτ Βουνεγκαντ,σχετικα με το βιβλιο"Μητερα Νυχτα"το οποιο εγινε κινηματογραφικη ταινια με τον Νικ Νολτε,και που σε αυτη,υπογραφει μια απο τις καλυτερες του ερμηνειες,εστω και αν η ταινια οπως και το βιβλιο ειναι καπως..."αμφιλεγομενα"σχετικα με το θεμα που παρουσιαζουν:Τον ΑντιΕβραισμο.1:23:Μονο...3.000 δολλαρια(;)πηρε ο συγγραφεας για να το γραψει,και μαλιστα το εμπνευστηκε σε..."κοκτειλ παρτυ"(;)στο 1:30.2:36:Δεν το ηξερα οτι η "General Electric"ειχε οικονομικα συμφεροντα στην Ναζισιτκη Γερμανια.Φανταζομαι ομως,οτι και αλλες Αμερικανικες εταιριες,θα ειχαν συνεργασια με το...3ο Ραιχ,ετσι δεν ειναι κυριε Βοννεγκαντ;13:17:Μου αρεσει που ο Κουρτ Βοννεγκαντ,εμπνεεται και απο την...Λυσιστρατη του Αριστοφανη!Γενικα ενδιαφερουσα συνεντευξη...

[@Gurkengraeber11]

das ding von hoboken ging gegen alle

[@trentwilson7507]

I can't stand Charlie Rose. He always interrupts his guests.

[@hahnfurst2195]

"I figured out how to keep humanity from hurling itself off the cliff. To start, we're all going to post our favorite Rant(s) on 11-11 at 11:11. ~ xoxo Hahn Furst” #FLICKiT #HappyBirthdayKurt #HappyBirthdayFyodor #HappyBirthdayLeo

[@yuelinli3527]

it's much better than I did in college.... HAHAHAH

[@jimmeehan5556]

Lord Haw Haw ( William Joyce) was Irish.

[@anevilgoose1034]

He was actually American with an irish background

[@onepunch9203]

I know he's a famous guy and I should know his name, but I don't. Who is the interviewer?

[@stevegordon695]

Charlie Rose

[@Bongofurry]

¿¿ I'm all in .

[@EMDrecs1]

Wrong, Hocus Pocus and Bluebeard are actually close to the top of my faves

[@lennarthagen3638]

This guys name is Kurt.

[@ANobodiemyspace]

i picture Mr Vonnegut on a walk, stopping, looking up and saying to himself - I am going to tell the truth to whom ever will listen. How preposterous.

[@charlie.something]

now that we know about charlie rose, kinda weird. rose is a child compared to vonnegut. tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly, man got to sit and wonder why, why, why?

[@Gurkengraeber11]

his last interview ( ?)

[@kevgh3869]

No plenty of interviews after this one. He died in 2007.

[@jacobhartwell8211]

Rene Boenki This was 10 years before he died; there's plenty of other interviews.

[@mikeglory9179]

Kev G. So it goes

[@rabokarabekian409]

Hocus Pocus is often not appreciated for its unstated message. He gives a wide range of illustrations how we all trick ourselves into believing whatever we feel we want to believe. So from war ,to adultery, to wealthy entitlement, to contracting out our country, to whorehouses, to insanity, to bells, we are given examples to consider about the "Hey Presto" ploys we innately rely upon. For instance, Kurt's narrator described a rich guy on the college board who spoke Chinese if he wanted to impress people, as if ten million idiots in China couldn't do so. Another person would quote Shakespeare out of context. And the motto that fits today's world all too well, "The complicated futility of ignorance." And so it goes.

[@TreesOnTheBeach]

Man, I wish Vonnegut had lived to see Donald Trump as president. I imagine I know what he would have thought.

[@EcclyBV]

Ting-a-ling, you son of a bitch!

[@kevito666]

These are bizarrely padded suit jackets ...

[@honkymonky7033]

These are the 90s very wierd to appreciate closes from this era in suits for exemple

[@ericchristen2623]

Yeah, he finally got the recognition he deserved but for more than half his life he struggled to be heard. How many brilliant minds got rejected by the putrid trash that makes up the publishing industry?

[@isaactaylor5531]

We need to make a Unicorn trap!!??....

[@rikinshah]

This nigga is an ARTIST

[@jacobhartwell8211]

Rikin Shah This nigga is most definitely an artist.

[@brunocoelho1959]

That's definetely the worst interview Charlie Rose ever made. Such terrible questions. He'd should've read at least a bit about Vonnegut. WTF

[@aaroncomo7631]

Timequake was better than a B-

[@MrWelfle]

Agreed! It's in my top 3 Vonnegut novels!

[@rikinshah]

"Alright...lets have an American" ...genius

[@camronme917]

King Louis VIII relax, he's no hoosier

[@millsixstudios]

Charlie Rose not a match. Not here, not in most of his suave interviews that are carried by his brilliant guests. Charlie uses his arrogant face and gestures to want to compensate, but he only turns bullyish and dismissive. Bah. -- BUT KURT! Thanks for being you, thanks for everything.

[@JSTNtheWZRD]

Kilgore Trout 🐟 Goodbye Blue Mondays

[@TrixieTrickx]

very interesting, vonnegut was one of my favorate writers when I was in my teens I think it is very telling that he didn't mention female writers when he talked about hitting your prime at 55. A bit of a masoginist old f$%^ ain't he. or maybe I may be misreading it but he did come off like he only male mater... like female writers are not worth mentioning. I think i will write him into my next short story ...that should be fun

[@alexanderacostaosorio]

If you think that he had an obligation to address every inequality in the world then you're misreading him entirely.

[@averycardosia2486]

He thinks Tennessee Williams is greater than Eugene O'Neil. I disagree

[@richardtofield9959]

nice tshirt

[@timwright4263]

7:55 Writers don't enjoy writing. I write short stories. I don't enjoy writing.

[@ParappatheRapper]

I find that writing is this very necessary and often irritating tool I use to express my feelings, or perhaps what I want others to feel from my point of view. The writing itself is actually quite irritating at times. I wish I could just take my thoughts and feelings and fling them at people and they just instantly understand me. Instead I have to explain using words, and craft an image solely around a common language which can so often lose so much of the nuance and detail in translation. Or you take it too far, and explain with such excruciating detail that nobody wants to suffer reading through it all. It's sort of a dreadful thing to have the need to write, especially if you're not all that gifted like me.

[@timwright4263]

@@ParappatheRapper Very well said. I shall leave you with the words of songwriter Neil Innes: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have suffered for many years as a result of my music. Now it's your turn."

[@ParappatheRapper]

@@timwright4263 Gave me a good chuckle. Cheers.

[@joycekoch5746]

Gerald Celente should have gotten the lead for Mother Night over NIck Nolte.

[@plasticweapon]

who?!

[@user-nq9gz4xf7f]

Charlie Rose has a very flippant almost aggressive style, almost seems disrespectful because his tone is so different than the authors. its very annoying but Vonnegut tolerates it. I guess because its promoting a movie and his book that the author is giving the interview and Charlie Rose is so abrupt and cursory in this interview. When is an interviewer not being alive when he is banned from his own tv show. Its a sad ending but maybe he was doing bad stuff when he wasnt interviewing. His persona here in the interview doesnt seem very agreeable.

[@isaactaylor5531]

His books were not promoted or displayed much in my high school in the 80s??..maybe would off givin us the wrong idea about things???... Us X-gen saw a lot of things trying to be X-out right in front of our FACES???... Truth cover-ups??... The kids need hear and understand what he's talking about... Laughing to understand life can bring tears to your eyes... It'll help U fix what needs to be fixed sometimes??... Bearable... Bare .. Yourself... Bare.. IT.. And become a bear... From poo to yogi to gentel Ben to the care bear ... Bear with me... We're just Barely legal?...

[@thewolf1801]

WTH this gut looks like my English Professor lol

[@flowerdoodle2438]

Huh..He’s a much better writer than talker.

[@IssyIsCrazy]

I don't like this interviewer

[@emmarose4234]

IssyIsCrazy Charlie Rose is gross.

[@charlie.something]

and now we know why

[@brianhaggerty1994]

IssyIsCrazy Rose says "but that's not me on the inside!"

[@edwincamarena6697]

He's entirely too aggressive. I always thought so, he tries to force the conversation in the direction he wants despite where the interviewee attempts to take it.

[@neogauntlet1008]

Same, he should have let kurt rap

[@Gurkengraeber11]

+kilgore trout trauert

[@stepaushi]

Charlie Rose's smirk and fake interest is annoying.

[@rewcashion]

This interviewer is godawful.

[@rikinshah]

How is it that I enjoy the Andre show over this